Doncic puts on birthday show

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Luka Doncic marked his birthday with 26 points as the Los Angeles Lakers boosted their playoff hopes with a 129-101 drubbing of the depleted Golden State Warriors on Saturday in the National Basketball Association.

Doncic rattled in four three-pointers with six rebounds and eight assists in a dominant Lakers win at San Francisco’s Chase Center.

LeBron James backed Doncic with a 22-point haul while Austin Reaves finished with 18 points to give the Lakers a morale-boosting victory after three consecutive losses.

The Warriors, missing the injured Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, were in damage limitation mode throughout after trailing by 13 points at the end of the first quarter.

“We needed a win like this,” Doncic told ABC television following the victory.

“Obviously, they’ve got Steph out, Jimmy out, but it’s still a dangerous game. So that was a great win,” added Doncic, who turned 27 on Saturday.

The Slovenian superstar believes the win can act as a catalyst for the Lakers as they enter the home stretch of the regular season, with Doncic, James and Reaves all fit after various injury absences this season.

“We’ll just go game by game, but the chemistry’s going to grow — I think today was one of the best games we played together,” Doncic said.

Elsewhere Saturday, Bam Adebayo scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Miami Heat beat Houston 115-105 to end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak.

Heat forward Pelle Larsson scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help the Heat hang on in a tense final period in which the Rockets were within one with 7:21 remaining.

Seven Heat players scored in double figures. That included 18 points from Tyler Herro and 12 from Andrew Wiggins — who exited briefly to receive stitches for a laceration inside his mouth.

It was a morale-boosting win for Miami, who have struggled for consistency since seeing a four-game winning streak snapped on 3 January.

Kevin Durant scored 32 points and handed out eight assists and Amen Thompson added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who were coming off a gritty win over Orlando in which they erased a 19-point deficit.

In Charlotte, guard Brandon Miller scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds to propel the Hornets to a fourth straight victory, 109-93 over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Miller made six of Charlotte’s 16 three-pointers and Coby White, acquired from the Chicago Bulls on 4 February, scored 20 points off the bench.